Innovation Experienceship in UK | Launch your own business and work for startup

I had a great time doing this internship it allows you to learn a lot about business and not only work but about yourself as a person and allows you to grow and has helped me withing my college career choice and I am so happy about this I would recommend anyone who has the option to do this to go ahead and get an application in.

For whatever reasons, you chose to go abroad, Corkscrew is literally an experience that broadens your horizon. I myself didn’t know what to expect seeing that big overwhelming mind-map at the office wall that really is Corkscrew after all. Moreover I haven't dealt with the topic of social entrepreneurship so far.

But as a naturally open-minded person, I used my recipe to expect nothing and to be by far surprised (in a good way) what Corkscrew had in store for me. It was definitely a personal gain meeting those great people from different countries and work/learn with them in a foreign environment. A propos environment: You don’t find a classic seminar room where you’ll listen to theory and facts as at school. That's because everybody knows - most brilliant ideas are created in garages or while sleeping rather than at a desk, aren’t they? That’s why Corkscrew uses office space where other entrepreneurs work on real life projects and businesses ideas next door. This environment is perfect for creativity and at the same time essential for the development of your own business ideas. Don't be afraid to share your new business idea with others, to look out for role models or for expertise before you jump into shark pool yourself. That comes with the term "feasibilty or stress test" of your idea.

And nowhere else I did find such excellent tutors. With the commitment of Derv, Tom & Neil you have tutors that support you in every way. I don’t know if they see themselves like that but they actually make learning fun ! And that is what counts for an unforgettable experience abroad. Four weeks were stuffed full with exercises so that they went by very quickly. At the end you don’t want to leave Exeter. But all good things end sometime. However, Corkscrew will last forever in your memories or leaves traces on the internet (e.g. as a follower on facebook).

Being part of Corkscrew #23 was a great experience! I learned a lot during this four amazing weeks. Now I am so confident in giving presentations and talking. That’s a huge benefit for my personal and professional life. And by the way I improved my language skills and had an incredible intercultural experience. Developing my own Start-Up idea was a perfect chance to train the fundamentals of business. Working on the client project in the afternoons was ideal to gain more experience in real life business and team work. Tom, Neil and Derv were brilliant leading us though the program and supporting us in any case. The four weeks were really challenging but as work was always fun it never felt like that. So I can definitely say that this were some of the best days in my life so far. I will never forget what I have learned during these four weeks and all the nice people I met. The group was so amazing.
I can recommend this program to everyone who wants to develop his own personal and business skills and is willed to share his experiences.

I've done several internships before and they never ended up the way I thought they would, so I didn't want my expectations to high.
Well, Corkscrew blew my mind away. This program includes a lot and you have to give in and don't be afraid to share your experiences. Workshops, participation, brainstorming, social media and website development, the list is long, and they make you understand that is never to late to learn something new. I left Corkscrew motivated to keep on learning and to start up my own business in the future. I've never seen myself as a creative person, but after Corkscrew I do.

When I arrived to Exeter in southwest England, I was openminded and curious about this program. This program became one of my best times in my life. I have learned a lot like to built a website, logo and using social media.

On this entrepreneurship program there were staff with really good knowledge and who learned things you did´t know was impossible. I had a really great time on Corkscrew and it has changed my career in a positive direction. I can differently recommend other to join this program. The program helps you to continue to develop yourself as an entrepreneur.

When I applied to Corkscrew Kickstart Program I was hoping to be able to launch a business one day. To me it was a very good opportunity to stimulate my ideas and myself and to give me all the keys to create a business. Corkscrew Kickstart Program has definitely helped me grow amazingly over the four weeks. For sure I will never forget such an amazing experience.

Through the program you develop your network. I met new people who are now in my heart and none of them is from my country, they are from all over Europe and it’s so interesting to build new connections with somebody, who has completely different background and was raised in totally different culture. Moreover the mentors support you all the time and are real guides to build your own business idea and develop your skills.

At the end of this program I am definitely more confident about my business skills, my business idea, my English communication and myself. More than ever I am motivated to launch the business idea which I built with mentors. If somebody asks me how you can describe your experience in one word, it would be captivating. Captivating as an enjoyable movie with the words at the end: “To be continued…”, because nothing for sure, it depends on me to exploit what was accomplished.

To sum up, Corkscrew Kisckstart Program provides a unique and intense experience (both theoretical and practical) full of good advices and where we develop professional and human skills. If you are highly motivated, curious and open for everything new people will be able to enjoy their time in other country and if you are ready to develop your taste of challenge – use Corkscrew Kickstart Program. I can’t thank mentors (Neil and Tom), participants and people I met during these four weeks enough for giving me the opportunity to live this amazing experience.

The program totally exceeded my expectations. There was so much to learn, do, try out - it never got boring. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship and most importantly realized that I actually could set up my own business. We practiced our presentation skills all the time - without even noticing, as the challenges were so much fun. Tom and Neil are inspiring mentors who really care about what they do. Exeter is a great and vibrant city, although it is small enough to walk home after a night of clubbing... All in all, I loved the program.

I completed my corkscrew internship directly after finishing my degree in Product Design.

The internship gave me the knowledge, experience and confidence that I needed to go forward in my chosen field, which ended up not being product design. The team at Corkscrew helped me sort out pretty much everything I needed in order to work in the profession I wanted, I really don't think I would be doing this today if I had not taken part in the program.

Meeting and working with different people from all over the world was a great learning experience and really broadened my horizons, I think a lot bigger then I used to.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone who could never picture themselves in a 9-5.

As one of the 'locals' that Neil and Tom have had on the course, I was super lucky to have Corkscrew right on my doorstep.

Over the month I learnt a huge amount about the various aspects of business start-up and how to produce a 'seamless' business idea. From the practical skills of setting up a website and using social media effectively, to the quirky and innovative ideas that generate unique businesses, the course is really thorough and I now have a really good, broad understanding of the business world as a whole.

Our project work with a local organisation was great because I learnt how to work within a team to produce a final brief, whilst making a real contribution to their project.

Corkscrew got me thinking is new ways about business and social enterprise as well as about myself and future career plans in general. Corkscrew is a great place to be - Neil and Tom create a fun and energetic learning environment/workplace and being in a co-work space makes each day a little bit different!

I completed my internship in Corkscrew Exeter shortly after completing my degree.

It gave me a chance to apply some of the knowledge I had learned into specific practice such as coming up with a financial and marketing plan for my business idea.

I also ended having ago at launching my business idea in my spare time after my time at Corkscrew. It never turned out to be a commercial success but if it wasn't for Corkscrew I would have never tried. In the future thanks to my Corkscrew experience starting my own business will seem like less of a daunting task!

Another benefit from Corkscrew I was able to base the answers of some really good answers to job interview questions based on my time at Corkscrew!

Also I had a really good fun time during my internship and have many lasting happy memories. Big thanks to Tom and Neil for running the program top guys!

I attended in 2013 - but it feels like yesterday because it made such an impact on me! Neil and Tom went above and beyond to make the experience personal and useful! The combination of theory, activities, challenges, creative thinking, presentation skills, tech skills, individual/group group etc gets you out of your comfort zone and makes you realise how much you can really achieve when inspired. Working with the clients puts your skills in practice and gives you 'real world' experience, and I made a great contact in my area of work. Don't worry if you don't have a business idea yet or think yours is not developed enough - choosing and devloping an idea is all part of the program! You get to have fun with bunch of inspiring people from around the world, and I still keep in touch with several! Can't recommend enough!

My experience was great. A normal day starts with a morning presentation, after which we did an exercise in the first week, e.g. pick a card, form pairs, and create a business idea about the words on your cards.
We also had a lot of time to think about our own business idea in the morning. Each day we focused on a different part of our business.
After lunch we worked on our clientwork, in my case I had to write a business analysis for an existing company. We did this in teams.
There was always support during the program. All in all it was a great experience, I loved it.

Corkscrew program is the best opportunity to wake up and make your own path! stop dreaming about a glamorous TOP JOB come to Exeter or Barcelona and make it happen. I learned a lot start up a business, social and personal skills. I worked with a Client Project -working with a Company to give me a huge work experience as well at contacts in an industry that I want to work in more. The time at Corkscrew is definitely a good and strong starting point in my professional development from NOW!

I had an amazing month in England learning valuable things and meet ing exciting people from all over the world.it was an intense month of group work, creativity, challenges and lots of laughter. I would definetelty recommend everyone to go there.

The experience of going to UK and Exeter to learn about everything from life too business is one of the greatest educational tool i have had in my life as well as one of the time i laught the most. I highly recommend that people all across the world try this program, because of the all the laughter that will be produced